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Tim Yu
Sprint 4G Rollout Updates
May 19, 2017 - 8:30 AM PDT
The Sprint Magic Box was announced on Sprint's quarterly earning call earlier this month, and was heralded as the first truly all wireless small cell in the industry. So what is this mystical beast that is purported to increase coverage by up to 30,000 square feet, amplifies data speeds, and "boosts" your data signal?
This is the 1st Generation Sprint Magic Box
In more technical terms, the Magic Box is an Airspan product under their Airunity line. The black colored model that exists in the wild, and which I procured contains the Airspan Airunity 540 small cell eNB. Whereas the white colored Magic Box advertised by Sprint is a newer model that contains the Airspan Airunity 545 small cell eNB. The primarily difference is that the unreleased white Magic Box is able to broadcast at twice the transmit power compared to the black model which results in substantially increased coverage area in addition to the LTE UE Relay Module having HPUE capability.
These are all wireless small cells as there is no requirement of a wired backhaul solution like traditional Femto cells like the pending Sprint Airave 3 LTE, Commscope S1000, or the T-mobile LTE Cellspot.
Instead, the Magic Box (MB) utilizes a technology called LTE UE Relay that is integrated into the overall package. The Magic Box contains an Airunity LTE B41 2500 MHz small cell and a LTE UE Relay device called the ninja module whose only job is to establish a data link to a macro eNB LTE 1900 or 2500 MHz signal and then feed a data connection to the Airunity small cell.
For more on LTE UE Relay: see here
Once the Relay link is connected and data flows to the Airunity eNB, a new LTE 2500 MHz signal is then created and broadcasted from the unit. This signal is unique to the Magic Box and is available to use by any compatible Sprint device that can access the LTE Plus (2500 MHz LTE B41) network.
Unlike a repeater setup, the Magic Box does not simply take an existing signal and amplify it and all the accompanying noise and interference. This is a brand new and very clean LTE signal being broadcasted.
The following screenshot from Network Signal Guru app displays this clearly.
The Magic Box in my location broadcasts a brand new LTE carrier with frequency located on EARFCN 40270 (2558 MHz) while the macro donor eNB signal of 40978 (2628 MHz) is used as backhaul (LTE Band 25 1900 MHz can also be used).
[As of July 2017, the Magic Box had its LTE carrier center frequency switched to 2518.4 MHz or EARFCN 39874. Signal Check Pro screenshot]
This means, instead of a weak edge of cell LTE signal with the accompanying band switching that substantially impact device stand by times and I may lose deep inside the building, a Magic Box allows a Sprint device to connect to a strong and clean LTE 2500 MHz signal which blankets the formerly weak LTE coverage area.
As a side effect, LTE speeds may also be dramatically increased due to the better signal level and quality being broadcasted by the MB whose LTE Relay Module can connect to what may have been previously an unusable 2500 MHz network. Especially when placed by a window as recommended.
Album of Screenshots
Personal Experience
In my more than one month of observations using the Magic Box, I was able to connect to a LTE 2500 MHz signal from inside a suburban family residential building where such a signal was previously unusable. Furthermore, not only did the Magic Box boost the data signal from weak edge of cell service with consistent frequency swapping that had previously killed our devices battery life, but it also increased the LTE data speeds substantially to the tune of 200-300% over what we were previously getting over LTE 800 and 1900 MHz.
Whereas previously the house was a weak coverage area where LTE 800 MHz was predominant with even parts dropping to EVDO 3G, the new LTE signal broadcasted by the MB covers the entire house and then some through multiple interior walls and even an exterior brick wall before handing over back to the macro network.
So what's my view on the Magic Box?
It can't come soon™ enough for more people to use and enjoy.

We don't allow political discussion at S4GRU for good reason. We're bordering on that now. And that illustrates how what Marcelo did was not smart. The tax bill ended up being highly partisan. So joining the bandwagon looks political and alienates millions of customers.
Exactly why we insist on staying out.

Hot off the Goldman Sachs Investor call with Marcelo Claure...
Highlights at 35 mins into the call (11:05 Eastern)
-Sprint will add 2000 Macro sites (no time frame given)
- Will have EVERY cell site with 800, 1.9 and 2.5 (No time frame given)
- Will deploy many thousands of mini macro and such in addition to the Macro sites.
-Capex will be $5-7 billion this year and "At least that much next year or more"....
Marcelo's thoughts were that now that Sprint is growth positive and cash positive (his words) Sprint can now invest heavily and expand it's footprint.

Tim YuSprint 4G Rollout UpdatesJanuary 26, 2018 - 5:30 AM PST [Edited: 1/28/18 to include additional information on Samsung 4 port 800 MHz radio]
[Edited: 2/2/18 for photograph addition of an Ericsson setup]
The Triband Hexadecaport. The newest development of Sprint's recent network expenditures.
This is a new triband antenna configuration now being deployed by Sprint that is able to do 4T4R MIMO on both 800 MHz and 1900 MHz in addition to 8T8R MIMO over 2.5 GHz. All in one single antenna.
Previously, Sprint typically utilized two different antennas with one from Network Vision days being a hexport dual band unit that supports 800 MHz and 1900 MHz. While 2.5 GHz was an additional antenna and radio unit added on later. Some sites utilized (and may continue to utilize) another triband antenna model. This older generation triband antenna is a decaport (10 port) triband unit that support 4T4R on both 1900 MHz and 2.5 GHz with 2T2R on 800 MHz. This meant that an 8T8R radio would have its capabilities decreased as a result of going from 8T8R to 4T4R.
With the development and deployment of this new 16 port triband antenna, Sprint is now poised to offer 800 MHz 4 antenna transmit and receive diversity alongside 1900 MHz, while 2.5 GHz is able to fully utilize the capability of an 8T8R radio.
This means that the full capability of Sprint's 800 MHz, 1900 MHz, and LTE Plus (2.5 GHz) network can be utilized from a single triband antenna panel. Removing the limitations of the previous go-to triband antenna model. Because of these limitations, Sprint did not deploy the previous triband antenna panel in a wide scale. Now they are likely to deploy these more commonly. In fact, we are already seeing this occur in Washington State, Pittsburgh, and other places en masse.
Above: Samsung 4T4R 800 MHz setup via two 800 MHz RRH-C2, 4T4R 1900 MHz RRH-P4 , & 8T8R 2.5 GHz RRH-V3
Photograph Source: Josh (ingenium)
Currently, this type of setup has been found in Samsung vendor regions with two individual 2T2R 800 MHz RRUs to achieve 4T4R MIMO. Samsung and Sprint has a new 4 port 4T4R 800 MHz RRU that will be able to do the job of two existing 2T2R 800 MHz RRUs that will be deployed alongside this new type of antenna. This new Samsung 4 port low frequency radio is also available in Band 13 750 MHz for deployment in the Puerto Rico market due to the Sprint Open Mobile deal.
Photograph Source: Chris92 Ericsson Setup Source: mdob07
This type of setup is yet to be seen in Ericsson or Nokia - Alcatel-Lucent territory. If you discover these in other vendor regions, be sure to post about it!
****If you're in Ericsson or Nokia / former Alcatel-lucent territory then replace the Samsung radios with the relevant Nokia, Alcatel-Lucent CDMA / LTE and Ericsson radios depending on region.***

It is more insightful than these tend to be.
-$5-6 billion may be on the low side on CapEx going forward.
-Large push back towards traditional towers.
-Going back to the 25/26/41 on every macro tower where possible plan.

I just got my Magic Box (ordered it 2 days ago) and I have band 41 in my apt now! I used to pull 5-8 down on band 25 but now I’m averaging 42 down on band 41
i live in an apartment so my neighbors with Sprint will benefit too!

Sprint has passed AT&T in average performance, all in a year they were largely distracted by a merger. Yet, they are awful. Can't be trusted. Some act like it's getting worse and worse.
Sprint cannot make some people happy, no matter what. If they aren't number one, they aren't anything. But I swear, when they make it to number one in performance, the haters will complain about coverage. They will have to be number one in everything. And then it will be that they hate old ladies, or something.
They are committing more money than ever before. And already spending more money than in the past few years. They already are more active than before in the planning and early work. More bidding, more contract issued. New equipment is already hitting the streets. Small cells popping up all over and more in planning. And now they are talking about a significant macro site development too. This is nothing like the past.
And Sprint is still getting better and better. And now that they are deploying B26 in my market, I will probably be coming back to Sprint again soon.

Oh gosh, not this again. I am more against this than I was before. Tmo and Sprint are getting more competitive and gaining market share against the Duopoly. Verizon is on their feet, having to actually compete. The wireless market has never been better for the American consumer. I'm willing to sit back and see what comes of this, as twospirits recommends, but I think the status quo is right where we need to be nationally with wireless. The path forward looks good for Tmo and Sprint.
Prices will go up if they are allowed to merge. They are trying to do it now. It is the 4th competitor, the odd duck out, that pressures the market. Three roughly equal sized competitors just won't pressure much. Mark my words!

Tim YuSprint 4G Rollout UpdatesJanuary 12, 2018 - 5:30 PM PST
"New year, new me. Am I right?"
~ signed Samsung
Samsung has decided that the beginning of the new year is a great time to change. Samsung has decided its newest flagship Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus devices must meet with the FCC OET for certification far earlier than usual. With ever watchful and prying eyes, S4GRU staff discovered the twin filings for two devices with FCC IDs of A3LSMG960U and A3LSMG965U which follows the previous Samsung numeration of the Galaxy S8 / 8+ (950u/955u) and Galaxy S7 (930u/935u) respectively. In addition, previous leaks for purported international Galaxy S9 variant have captured the ID of 960F and 965F respectively.
To keep this short and simple, the Galaxy S9, to date, is the most technologically powerful device we've seen at least for Sprint and possibly other entities and the following technical specifications should demonstrate why.
CDMA BC: 0 / 1 / 10 GSM: 850 / 1900 WCDMA Bands: 2, 4 , 5 LTE Band: 2, 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 14, 17, 25 , 26 , 29, 30, 38, 41, 66, 71
Downlink Carrier Aggregation (DL CA) 5xB41 (up to 5 B41 carriers aggregated) B25+41CA (up to 2 B41 carriers - 3 total carriers aggregated ) B26+41CA (up to 2 B41 carriers - 3 total carriers aggregated ) B25+26CA (up to 2 B25 carriers - 3 total carriers aggregated )
Uplink Carrier Aggregation (UL CA) 2xB41 256 / 64 QAM Downlink/ Uplink
HPUE CAT 18 Modem
4x4 MIMO B2, 4, 25, 30 , 41, 66
12 spatial streams
Holy bonanza!
This phone supports up to 100 MHz of LTE spectrum being aggregated together from 5 individual Band 41 carriers!
To add to that, it also supports FDD and TDD LTE carrier aggregation by utilizing Band 25 1900 MHz or Band 26 800 MHz as the primary component carrier which would contribute to downlink and uplink while Band 41 is aggregated to it would be downlink only secondary component carriers. Remember the saying of having B25 or B26 uplink with Band 41 downlink, anybody?
Plus there is expansion of FDD carrier aggregation to that of between Band 25 and Band 26. This will help a ton in areas where Band 41 and its oodles of capacity does not reach. As the recent CDMA refarming nationwide on PCS spectrum has allowed Sprint to fire up an additional Band 25 carrier, this means in many Sprint markets there currently exists two Band 25 carriers in addition to a Band 26 carrier. This additional carrier is not forgotten and can now be used alongside the other Band 25 and Band 26 carrier for carrier aggregation.
Last but not least, this phone is "Gigabit Class" by having up to 12 spacial streams means that 4x4 MIMO can be used for 3 separate B41 carriers when aggregated together instead of 2 in the previous generation which supports only 10 spacial streams. Though it was a moot point as the entire generation of Samsung flagships from this past year did not support 4x4 MIMO on Band 41, until now!
A phone this size should not be able to pack so many technologies...but yet it does! A splendid phone and surely a must have for the S4GRU and other tech adept users!

I've owned two XC90's. And other vehicles too. I totaled an Isuzu Ascender by hitting a deer outside Bismarck, North Dakota chasing Sprint LTE tracks on Sensorly (which turned out not to be actual Sprint signals). I have run into golf ball sized hail while signal tracking. Been chased by a funnel cloud. I have slid off icy roads. I have backed into parking bollards. Numerous paint scratchings from brush and trees while driving up mountaintop access roads. I have blown a transmission. I have had more close calls than I can count with other cars and pedestrians (and sometimes farm animals). I have dropped a brand new phone on asphalt jumping out to view new base station equipment deliveries. I have been chased off by well armed unhappy property owners. And other things that aren't coming to my mind quickly.
There have been a lot of casualties. But many fun memories. I think I get the same rush that extreme sport enthusiasts get when I discover a new signal or some sort of unexpected anomaly and begin the chase. Like a less dangerous storm chaser? And less useful. I don't provide useful information to climate scientists and meteorologists. But hey, we do have a meteorologist on staff at S4GRU. And I'm glad for that!
Robert

Tim YuSprint 4G Rollout UpdatesDecember 11, 2017 - 9:30 PM PST
Recently, individuals who ordered Magic Boxes noticed a change in the product code of the unit to AU544 from AU545. It is now confirmed that the product code change is due to the release of the 3rd generation Magic Box. They are now being shipped!
The new revision is in essence a GEN2 optimized with a high quality LCD touchscreen display like that of the 1st Generation AU540. In addition, an external battery pack with an adapter to hook onto the Magic Box is now provided. It can be lugged around for testing purposes instead of internal batteries. In addition, the touch power on button of the GEN2 has been removed with power on sequence done by plugging in power to the unit via a battery pack with an adapter or via the AC power brick.
Performance wise, the GEN 3 is identical to the GEN 2 in that they still utilize the Airspan Airunity 545 small cell eNB and a Ninja LTE Relay module. The product designation change from 545 to 544 is primarily due to a change in the WiFi module to a different Qualcomm WiFi module. But for what matters to Sprint users, the LTE B41 performance impact as noted from GEN 1 and subsequently the GEN 2 are identical. GEN 2 users will not be left behind in performance wise. Previous generation device owners will not be missing out on much! For those that are getting the Magic Box for the first time, welcome to the party!
Here's pictures of the GEN 3 (AU544MBGN2) courtesy of @bucdenny

You beat me to it. I saw that article and came here to say the same thing. For the non-initiated, my analogy was going to be:
"Newest Ferraris have been shown to do up to 200MPH on a racetrack. But average speeds of the latest Honda cars in the real world are only 40MPH! Honda is doomed!"
- Trip

Warning: Long, but worth the read.
I just wanted to give a good customer service experience with Shentel. On one sector of the tower closest to my house (Woodstock, VA), B26 had zero data throughput. I am mainly on B41 at my house, but on occasion I would drop to B26. Anything I was doing would get cut off, which was frustrating. Through the Sprint app, I submitted some network data tickets, but nothing ever happened. So after about 6 weeks, I sent a Facebook message to the Shentel FB account one evening before work with details on the problem, including the GCI of the B26 sector and the address of the tower. I work nights, so I didn't wake up until about 2PM the next day and saw I had missed 5 calls from a Shentel Employee. It was the RF Engineering Manager. I called him back and he thanked me for my detailed message and he said when they checked the stats on the tower, they realized they had an issue. They actually shut down that sector on B26 so phones wouldn't connect to the bad band/sector. He told me the RRH went bad and they had already put in an order for a crew to replace it. He all but offered me a job and thanked me for helping them diagnose the issue. He told me I should stop by sometime and talk to him. Long story short, I may go have a chat with him sometime, but I don't know that I would leave what I'm doing now.
Anyway, fast forward a few days and I got a call from a field RF engineer who told me they had just fixed the issue and did some other tweaks to the tower to make speeds better. He told me he is responsible for the general area around me and told me to save his number and call him directly if I ever notice anything else.
I also got some info from him about future upgrades for this area. He said they are waiting on Sprint to approve them adding a 20x20 B25 carrier, but that should happen soon. He told me there is already a 15x15 B25 carrier active near me that I'm going to try to see if I can connect to it. That tower also has B41 so it may be a bit of a challenge to get my phone to connect to it. One last thing, they are close to adding a third B41 carrier to have 3xCA in this area. He said that should happen soon too.
A couple days later I noticed that there are now two 10x10 B25 carriers live on my "home tower." There used to only be one 10x10 and one 5x5. I wish I could have asked him about this, but I didn't know at the time I talked to him. I'm guessing this may be the speed tweaks that he mentioned.
This is all good news for this area and hopefully he and I can keep in touch. I asked if he could give me a tour of a tower one day and he said he would check with his boss to see if he could do it. I hope that I can do that someday.

Tim Yu Sprint 4G Rollout Updates September 28, 2017 - 2:30 PM PDT
It has been 6 months since I first learned of and received access to what is now called the GEN1 Magic Box. I wrote up my thoughts about it a few months back. Sprint has now evolved to a GEN 2 Magic Box model. These units are being distributed to customers who preordered after Sprint's announcements. I've now acquired a GEN2 Magic Box myself.
Upon opening the package, the most immediate and noticeable difference between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 Magic Box is the absence of an external portable battery. This was useful to lug the Magic Box around and test different locations in order to select the best spot for unit placement.
On the surface this may appear to be a way to decrease unit costs. This may be true, but the Gen 2 model contains two CR18650 rechargeable lithium batteries integrated inside of the package for the same purpose. No more using a dongle and a hefty battery pack that could be easily lost!
[2nd Generation Magic Box white colored on left, 1st Generation Magic Box black colored on right[
Along with the new internal guts, the external aesthetics and materials were also modified. The Gen 1 model had a super bright LCD display with a black front surrounding by white plastic. The new Gen 2 model has an eInk display with a touch power button below it on the front with the entire exterior being a reflective polished hard plastic.
What didn't change is the GEN2 is still an all wireless small cell with no requirement of hard wired backhaul supplied by the user. It still uses LTE UE Relay to acquire an existing Band 25 1900 MHz or Band 41 2500 MHz connection from an existing donor site, which is then fed to the small cell unit and broadcasted as a new LTE Band 41 2500 MHz carrier. The new LTE Relay unit supports up to 3 carrier aggregation on Band 41 to the macro donor site.
Now to the meaty parts. The performance. Let these screenshots tell the story.
Before
After
[Apps used: Network Signal Guru, Signalcheck Pro, Ookla Speedtest]
The extremely significant data speed and signal improvements that were experienced by the original Magic Box still exist with the 2nd generation unit. The GEN2 matches and exceeds the performance of my original Magic Box, especially in the upload category. This is due to the newer LTE Relay module design which utilizes a higher gain antenna. A very satisfactory model upgrade. It upholds the positive impressions I outlined in my original article.
These units just can't come out fast enough so that more people can enjoy it!
The Magic Box is not a panacea, but is a very good solution in many locations. Now that thousands of these preordered boxes are hitting the streets in countless different deployment scenarios, lots of limitations and bugs are being discovered. With varying impacts. The Magic Box doesn't work for everyone everywhere due to the very nature of its all wireless design. In most places, it works as advertised. Just power up and let it rip. In a few locations there is something lacking which causes units to not fully configure. This results in errors such as the infamous "20% initialization" or "cannot connect to mobile network" screens that pop up.
We researched, asked questions and were informed that Sprint's LTE Relay configuration is of the out of band variety. This means that the LTE UE Relay operation and the small cell eNB signal has to operate on different frequencies. So in Sprint's case, a market must have Band 41 High and Low separation in order for a LTE Relay to work. Thus, Sprint must have spectrum in the Band 41 low range (2500-2570 MHz) and the Band 41 high range (2620-2690). If a Sprint market does not have said spectrum with such a separation, the relay link cannot be established and the Magic Box will not work.
In markets where such spectrum peculiarities exist and areas where the macro 1.9 GHz and 2.5 GHz RF signal is not strong enough to establish a LTE Relay backhaul connection for the Magic Box, there exists other alternatives available from Sprint. These alternatives are the Airave 3 LTE and Commscope S1000 NSC which will be offered to subscribers who do not qualify for a Magic Box or in a location where the Magic Box does not work. The subscriber will require a home broadband connection in those instances.
(Left: Airave 3 LTE, Right: S1000 NSC; credit: ingenium & pwnedkiller)
The Airave 3 LTE is the traditional CDMA + LTE Band 41 + WiFi femto cell. It is the successor the Airaves of old. The Commscope S1000 NSC is a LTE Band 41 + WiFi only femto cell which is in essence the Airave 3 minus the CDMA capabilities. If a subscriber desires voice and data enhancement then the Airave 3 should be what the subscriber seeks. If the subscriber does not need voice enhancement due to sufficient macro voice coverage but need 4G LTE data enhancement, then the S1000 NSC would be a better fit.
There is a solution for just about everyone now. There now exists an all wireless self configuring LTE small cell, a state of the art and award winning LTE small cell, and which when paired with a CDMA module produces the newest successor in the Airave family. All of which will bring extreme improvements that Sprint subscribers can realize instantly.
The densification of Sprint's network is now beginning and it all begins with one quite magic(al) box.
Album of the Magic Box

Quick rundown of UBS Conference with Tarek Robbiati
-70% POP on B41
-50% of Towers have B41
-Adding a couple thousand Macro sites
-Making all sites Triband is key
-Massive MIMO will be deployed extensively compared to other carriers
-Full access to Altice backhaul to deploy small cells (seems limited to their footprint) No Permits needed, quick to market deployment and best price.
-reiterated increase in Capex between 5 and 6B for 2018
-Improving Customer service
-Increase in prices (but still be the least expensive of all carriers)

Sprint does send reminders that the lease is expiring too. It's not like they are hiding the lease end from the customer. Everyone's a victim these days. If you admit that you're too naive or lazy, then you're admitting responsibility and copability...

Tim Yu Sprint 4G Rollout Updates September 5, 2017 - 6:45 PM PDT
It is that time of the year for flagship phablets and LG has returned to us with their brand new V30 smartphone. Unlike the LG G6, LG was not conservative with the specifications on this one. Many other tech sites and forums have already broken down the V30 but here at S4GRU we are more interested in network technologies and the V30 is definitely no slouch in this regard.
Supported Technologies GSM 850 / 1900 WCDMA Band: 2 / 4 / 5 LTE Band: 2 / 4 / 5 / 12 / 13 / 17 / 25 / 26 / 41
4x4 MIMO on Band 25 and Band 41 up to 10 streams
256 / 64 QAM DL-UL HPUE
2xCA B25 2xCA B41
3xCA B41 4xCA B41
That is right.
The LG V30 is the first device confirmed to support 4 carrier aggregation on Band 41.
No other device out there, including the ever more popular Galaxy S8 or Note 8, are confirmed to at least technologically support 4 carrier aggregation for Band 41 (though maybe a re-certification & software update can fix that). In addition, the LG V30 is also a "Gigabit Class" device that supports 4x4 MIMO over Band 41 for up to 10 total MIMO streams which the Galaxy S8 and Note 8 does not support (the GS8 and Note 8 are not "Gigabit Class" devices on Sprint).
Furthermore, note the inclusion of LTE Band 13. One may think this mean LTE roaming on Verizon may be in the cards, but recently Sprint consummated a partnership with Open Mobile based in Puerto Rico who holds Band 13 750 MHz spectrum. As the Puerto Rico market lacks SMR 800 spectrum needed for CDMA 1x 800 and LTE 800 Band 26, it seems likely that it may be a boutique Sprint market that will utilize 10x10 Band 13 750 MHz for low band coverage. An interesting development.
So network wise, the V30 sure seems like one heck of a device that supports just about every technology Sprint is poised to utilize right now in select markets and most of the network in the near future. A potentially splendid device for the Sprint network enthusiast.
FCC ID: LS998

A brand change would be very expensive to do. This money would be better used for improving the network in my opinion.
A brand change would also be ineffective in my opinion. People would remember the old brand name and reputation for a very long time. Given that there are only 4 Major Wireless Carriers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint), Sprint’s Legacy Branding and Reputation wouldn’t simply go down the Internet (or off-Internet) memory hole for the foreseeable future. There would be a slew of articles and press referring to Sprint’s rebrand which will continue the association with its legacy brand. The saturated wireless market would constantly refer to Sprint’s old branding and reputation. This is therefore not a near term fix nor a long term one, as it takes resources that could be better used for tangible improvements to the business and product.
In short, I’d expect a rebrand to have as much effect as Comcast trying to call itself Xfinity. Was this even a real rebrand? I’m still not sure. However, it didn’t work.
T-Mobile went through a terrible branding period... and it’s emerged fine on the other side. No rename necessary.
Here’s the solution and it’s nothing novel: Network, Network, Network.
Make the Network blow the other guys’ out of the water. Distribute flagship devices to prominent columnists (Sascha Segan, etc.) and have them write reviews on the Network. Share these reviews widely.
Here’s a start:
https://www.pcmag.com/review/358021/lg-v30
https://twitter.com/saschasegan/status/945682340105289729
https://twitter.com/saschasegan/status/945688172943593473
The customers will come if the product is better. People are savvy enough to see through a brand change and it would be a waste of money.
A brand change would be a waste because Sprint doesn’t have a perception problem as much as it has a product problem. Here’s what’s wrong with the product:
Sprint doesn’t have Band 41 on 50% of its towers (or about 30% of its POPS) . It doesn’t have Band 26 on many others. It needs thousands of more tower sites to improve coverage on its existing footprint and at the fringes where there’s been suburban development that has exceeded the capacity of the Network. It needs to get all three LTE Bands deployed on every site. Sprint doesn’t have VoLTE for simultaneous Voice/Data (and for good reason as we all know why, but Prospective Customers don’t and may not switch.).

Someone at The Motley Fool is trying to make a point by comparing T-Mobile theoretical peak speeds to Sprint empirical average speeds.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/t-mobile-apos-latest-announcement-170700579.html
This just further goes to show that questionably qualified investment advisors should refrain from proffering obviously incompetent technical analysis.
AJ

After the cost of the contest, S4GRU made approximately $375 for the site. Thank you all who participated!
We will hold the drawing this coming Sunday at 6 PM Pacific/9 PM Eastern.
All entries have been sent. Good luck to all the participants.
THANKS FOR SUPPORTING S4GRU!
Robert

There are positives to be had if there is a merger, for sure. I don't believe a merger is bad in every way. And if it happens, there will be things that I will like. I just believe, at this time, all things considered, I'd prefer they'd be separate. Just my opinion, and I respect the opinions of others points as well. Because I considered them, and they are marked in the 'pro' column for me.
I like where Sprint is going now more than ever in its past. And Sprint's road to "5G" is less capital intensive than the others because of spectrum and equipment deployed.

This merger would stagnate the wireless market it would stink almost immediately. You are pro-merger but already wondering if they would have capital to build and expand the network. Sprint now has positive revenue to increase CAPEX for additional B41, MIMO, and 5G why hault the improvements that Sprint has been making?
You guys screaming pro merger really need to sit back and really think, are you willing to see less competition and increasing wireless bills? Not to mention that unlimited will be a thing of the past, after all it was Sprint and T-Mobile that made the big two offer unlimited. If this merger goes through I don't want to hear complaining I am taking names...

The way to fix this is to have a nationwide secret shopper program run by an outside entity under the direction of Sprint management in order to document these issues for resolution by senior management. This program needs to run for the foreseeable future and the findings need to reach the highest levels of management for resolution.

Well things have certainly gotten a lot better in Weston. One of the formerly trouble spots is now a full build that's rocking and rolling. Still one more tower to check, but everything else is top notch. Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

Because of the high volume traffic of utiz4321's posts arguing against Net Neutrality, his posts are being hidden for the time being -- until such time that utiz4321 can reach a mutually beneficial, private financial agreement with S4GRU. Said arrangement will allow for utiz4321's posts to be displayed without delay, while also accounting for the greater burden placed upon S4GRU staff to monitor his volume of posts, enabling additional investment in S4GRU infrastructure costs, and opening up new, innovative ways for S4GRU to deliver services to its members.
This is a required disclosure message of any newly implemented blocking/throttling policies at non neutral S4GRU.
AJ

This is a sprint tech forum not a sprint complain forum. The internet is vast you can go somewhere else like twitter and complain. Threads have been shut down in the past for complaints the mods have been very lenient on what has been said don't be surprised if this thread gets shut down due to sprint complaints. They are probably lenient because a throw your crazy merger on the wall thread needs to be made.
Do you know the debt of the others to make the claim that "Sprint's debt is bigger than any of the other players"?
Is the company healthy? Yes not sure how that would be a no. Debt? But if you look at the other four it is the one of the lowest in debt. LTE coverage is over 95% of the Interstates atleast in the eastern half of the US.
Do you have the numbers on the number of people that took up the free phones that you care to share with the class?
Are they making money? Year to date yes they are up $158 Million. Are you saying they should not have made a big push with magic boxes this quarter after they saw demand?

It will take a year after the merger close to see the higher fees and unlimited going bye bye. I do not favor for this merger, but Sprint and its parent company have been waiting for this. This has been their strategy from the start, but the problem now is they are the seller rather than the buyers. The only thing in their way is the DOJ, but the new administration appointed pro-business lawyers in the antitrust department.
Had the Japenese invested on Sprint network from the get-go, they would have been negotiating a merger from strength rather than weakness.

Finally got a SignalCheck Pro update pushed out yesterday afternoon! By now I'm sure many of you already grabbed it, but here are the version 4.47 highlights..
Added option to hide "Unknown" neighbor cells.
If you enable this option, you will not see "Unknown" neighbors displayed individually.. instead the total number of unknowns (if any) will be mentioned in the neighbor cell header. "Unknown" cells are usually nearby cells that are on a different band than your active connection. Android used to handle these without an issue, but since 7.0 it's been broken.
Resolved issue with missing signal information on GSM devices reporting 99% BER.
There's a decent number of older Samsung devices (and possibly others) that report a bogus GSM bit error rate (BER) even when the connection is valid. This should work around that.
Overhauled implementation of Android 6+ runtime permissions requirements.
This has been a nightmare, but it's getting better. Essentially, you need to grant SignalCheck the location, phone, and storage permissions it asks for if you want full functionality. There is still a glitch where you may not be prompted for every permission if more than one is pending in the background, but I'm working on it. There is an explanation of why these permissions are needed on the website FAQ, but please ask if you have any questions.
Overhauled Wi-Fi channel and bandwidth routines.
Wi-Fi channel/frequency/bandwidth information should be greatly improved for those who were lacking this information before. Still some occasional reports of issues with DFS, please let me know if anything doesn't look right.
Changed AT&T LTE band 17 indicators to display as "B12/B17" if EARFCN cannot be obtained.
I'm probably getting the technical explanation wrong here, but AT&T is deploying B12 and B17 together with MFBI. SignalCheck will now show either B12 or B17 if the EARFCN confirms one of those, or "B12/B17" if it's not sure.
Added additional indicators for AT&T LTE band 2, 4, 5, 12, 17, and 30 cells.
Added additional indicators for Sprint CDMA Airave cells.
Added additional indicators for Sprint LTE band 41 Magic Box cells.
Added Data/EPST and Debug/Engineering shortcuts for rooted Pixel devices.
Added indicators for T-Mobile LTE band 71 cells (excluding East Coast & Western US).
Added support for newest LTE bands in 3GPP spec.
Reorganized Display Settings screen.
Resolved force closes on devices with multiple user accounts.
Resolved force closes when necessary permissions have not been granted on Android 6+.
Resolved force closes with Send Diagnostics function when storage permission is not granted.
Resolved issue with CDMA BSL display failing on Android 8.1.
These should all be self-explanatory but feel free to ask if you want more information.
As always, thank you to everyone for your support! There WILL be an update to SignalCheck Lite this month to catch it up to this release. I have been holding out because I was hoping to get all of the permissions issues ironed out before doing that, but my patience has run out.
-Mike